1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing medium and a method of manufacturing the same, and a printing method. More particularly, the invention relates to a printing medium and a method of manufacturing the same, and a printing method which are adaptable to an image recording or printing apparatus which holds printing media in forming images and requires such margins (non-print areas) to secure high precision medium in feeding the printing which is required to secure a high definition printing.
2. Background
Various devices and apparatuses for printing characters and images (sometimes referred to collectively as images) have been developed and put into practical use. Of the printing techniques thus far developed, the most advanced is the ink jet printing technique.
The quality of the image produced using the ink jet printing technique is inferior to that of the image produced by the conventional photographic printing technique. However, recently, the ink jet printing devices and the printing media used therein have been remarkably improved to produce a printed image of considerably high image quality.
Given recent improvements in the quality of the picture produced by the ink jet printing technique, attention has focused on the following five advantages unique to the ink jet printing technique:
(1) A complicated process for visualizing the image data is not required because the image is printed using ink directly on the printing medium.
(2) The ink jet printing technique uses ink droplets and, therefore, does not result in direct contact or impact with the printing head.
(3) Ink is deposited only on the necessary parts of the printing medium resulting in highly efficient utilization. Furthermore, the image printed on a printing medium, even if the medium is conventional paper, has a more professional look.
(4) The recurring cost for ink and printing media, e.g., paper, is extremely low, making the ink jet printing system economical.
(5) Finally, it is possible to deposit droplets of colored inks on the printing medium in a superimposed manner resulting in an image relatively high in quality.
In addition to the above listed advantages, the ink jet printing technique operates quickly. For these reasons, the application of this type of printing technique has become increasingly popular in printing activities ranging from business to home use. The market desires further improvements of the ink jet printer technology.
The ink jet based printer forms an image while moving a printing medium of a given size, such as greeting card or Christmas card, at a given speed. In the printer, a printing medium is held by a transporting roller which is disposed facing a print head by proper fixing means. In this state, the printing medium is intermittently transported in a vertical direction, and the print head is horizontally moved for printing when the medium transportation is stopped.
In the widely used ink jet based printer, non-print areas (areas on the printing medium having no print) or spaces are present in the leading, trailing and side portions of the printing medium having varying dimension depending on the type of the printing medium transporting means. Given the present stage of printer technology, these non-print areas are essential to firmly support and transport the printing medium within the printer.
In most printers, it is impossible to set the size of the leading non-print area to be equal to lo that of the trailing non-print area. In the image forming, recording or printing device widely used now, the trailing non-print area, which is unavoidable, is set at approximately 10 to 15 mm.
In order to ensure a higher quality look of the image on the printing medium, large non-print areas or non-print areas having different dimensions should be avoided. Particularly, in pictures printed by recent advanced ink jet based printing, image forming, or recording devices having a print quality comparable to photographs, such defects as a result of having these non-print areas decreases the value of the high quality pictures.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to produce an image of high quality on a printing medium regardless of the marginal space formed around the printed image.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing medium in which the non-print dimensions are easily set at desired values or zero if necessary.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a printing medium in which the value of the printing medium on which a picture is printed are not degraded by the presence of marginal non-print areas.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a printing method in which the quality of a printed printing medium is not degraded by the presence of non-print (space) areas in the margins.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a novel and unique printing medium which may accept ink droplets. This printing medium is provided with easy-separating means which enables one to easily separate the printing medium into at least two parts. Therefore, a sub-part of the printing medium is easily separable from a main part thereof.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first method for manufacturing printing media which includes a process for separating a plurality of printing media with easy-separating means from a sheet at one time while leaving one part of each printing medium connected to the sheet. Therefore, a plurality of printing medium with easy-separating means may be manufactured efficiently.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a second method for printing an image on a sheet-like printing medium having easy-separating means provided inside and entirely along the peripheral edge of the sheet-like printing medium for separating the peripheral edge from the printing medium. When an image is formed on the sheet-like printing medium, a print area is formed extending somewhat beyond the easy-separating means to the peripheral edge of the sheet-like printing medium. Therefore, employing this method will result in a printed printing medium without non-print areas (blank margins) as the non-print areas may be separated from the print area along the easy-separating means at the completion of the printing process.
According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a third method for printing an image on a sheet-like printing medium having easy-separating means for separating the printing medium along the easy-separating means into two parts so that when forming an image on the printing medium, and the non-print areas left around the peripheral edge of a print area is separated at a part of the easy-separating means, the image is formed at a predetermined distance from the easy-separating means equidistant from at least the opposite sides of each of the non-print area. As a result, the printed printing medium has reduced non-print areas, and the print area containing the printed image is disposed relative to the non-print areas in a well balanced fashion.
Thus, a printing medium is provided with easy-separating means which enables one to easily separate the printing medium into at least two parts, that is, having a part which is easily separable from a main part thereof. Accordingly, a form of the non-print areas of the printed printing medium can be freely set in a desired form after the printing on the printing medium.
For example, if the portion or area of the printing medium enclosed by the easy-separating means is rectangular in shape, the print area may easily be shaped to be rectangular. If the printing medium is set in a printing apparatus such that it is advanced by its trailing part having the widest cutout portion (4), the conventional printing apparatus may be used for the printing on the printing medium of the invention.
Thus, the positional relation among the easy-separating means, the peripheral edge of the print area and the peripheral edge of the printing medium is specified as mentioned above. Accordingly, the invention provides a high quality printing medium in which a print area is disposed relative to a non-print area in a well balanced fashion without any complicated means or operation, by merely separating the unnecessary portions along the easy-separating means.
In setting the printing medium in a printing apparatus, the printing medium may be advanced with its trailing edge having the widest cutout portion (4) so that a conventional printing apparatus may be used for printing on the printing medium of the invention. The distance, or the width of the non-print area, from the peripheral edge of the image in the trailing edge of the printing medium to the easy-separating means may be equal to the width, or distance from the edge of the image to the edge of the printing medium, of the non-print area in the front part (viewed in the medium advancing direction).
In this case, by separating the printing medium along the easy-separating means after printing the image, the resultant printed printing medium has reduced non-print areas results in a well balanced visual presentation.
In an ink jet printer, particularly a color ink jet printer, the printing is performed at high precision and high resolution. Therefore, extremely high precision is required for the medium feeding operation. In this type of printer, the print head is of the multi-nozzle type and large in size. For this reason, the non-print areas are set to be relatively large. However, in the printing method of the invention, after printing, unnecessary portions may easily be separated from the printing medium by the easy-separating means, thereby reducing the width of the non-print areas. As a result, in the printed printing medium, the print area is disposed to the non-print areas in a well-balanced fashion.
If, after the unnecessary portions are removed, the width of the non-print areas left, having been reduced as the result of the separation by the easy-separating means, is substantially equal to the width of the remaining non-print areas, the printed printing medium will have a more attractive appearance.
Furthermore, by separating the printing medium by the easy-separating means after the printing, a printed printing medium without the non-print areas (or non-print space around the perimeter) can be obtained extremely easily.